


Dancing and Cider, Truth and Lies

by mairelon



Category: The Princess Curse - Merrie Haskell
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:30:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8168498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mairelon/pseuds/mairelon
Summary: Reveka invites Dragos to the village's annual Harvest dance.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [madecunningly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/madecunningly/gifts).



The one thing my wicked stepmother Lacrimora hated most in the world was dancing. Lacrimora canceled the annual Harvest dance last year, and the villagers have been surly towards her ever since. Therefore, Princess Daciana suggested to Pa and Lacrimora that they hold the dance this year. And since a suggestion from royalty is really a command, Lacrimora was in an especially foul mood these last few weeks.

The great hall of Holuma Manor was crammed with dozens of villagers tonight. The tables and chairs had been pushed up against the walls after the feast. Most of the villagers and servants danced in a line dance in the center of the hall.

I watched the dancing from the dais at the top of the great hall along with Pa and Lacrimora. Lacrimora was glowering at the dancers. Pa looked like he would have liked to dance but was scared of what Lacrimora would do if he dared leave her side to join in the dancing.

Princess Daciana sat next to me, watching the dancers with a regal smile and her right foot tapping in time to the music. Princess Daciana had arrived at Holuma Manor a month ago with a large amount of luggage, two ladies-in-waiting, and four menservants and no explanation for her unexpected visit. She hadn't been back to Castle Sylvian once nor had Prince Vasile been by to visit her. If she'd told Pa or Lacrimora the reason for her visit, I had not been able to get it out of them. And none of my snooping, eavesdropping, or direct questions had enlightened me.

The men gathered in the center for the circle dance, while the women backed up against the walls. The circle dance was a very vigorous dance with lots of stamping and leaping. Some of the villagers had more enthusiasm than skill, and the baker was constantly a beat behind everyone else, but the men were still an enjoyable sight. The music came to a stop and the men retreated to the walls, sweaty and out of breath, while the women gathered in the center.

I stood up and held out a hand to Daciana. “Come on, let's dance.”

Daciana hesitated half a second before she leapt up eagerly. We took our places in the circle between Emilia and Lizuca, two of the kitchen maids. Daciana and Emilia danced gracefully, landing lightly after each leap, while I thumped down like a sack of flour. After the circle dance, the men joined us for a chain dance.

Several dances later, I had to take a break. I took a cup of cider and went outside to look at the bonfire in the courtyard. There were a couple dozen people taking a break from the dancing in the courtyard, either feeding the bonfire or embracing in the shadows.

I found an unoccupied corner of the cloisters and leaned against the balustrade and stared at the bonfire. The flickering flames had me half asleep when I felt someone behind me. I didn't need to look to know who it was.

“I thought I would find you dancing,” Dragos said.

“I thought I would make it easier for you to find me,” I said.

Dragos settled in to my right, his left elbow inches away from my right elbow.

I glanced sideways at him. Though I was expecting it, the sight of his human face with its sharp cheekbones and stubbled chin still sent a jolt through me. I had seen Dragos just two days ago in Thonos but I hadn't seen his human visage in months.

“Cider?” I offered my cup to Dragos. He drank and handed it back to me.

“Did you ever attend a Harvest dance before?” I asked.

Dragos hesitated before answering. “No. I never had the chance to go to a village dance.”

“Reveka?” Pa's voice called. “Who is that?”

I spun around to see Pa standing in the doorway of the great hall looking at us. He strode across the courtyard towards us. I quickly ran through my options. It was too late for Dragos to disappear. Dragos's clothes were too fine for him to be a servant or villager. Which left only one option.

“Will he recognize your human form?” I whispered to Dragos. I had always wondered if Pa had known Dragos from before he became a zmeu, but I had never been able to get a straight answer from either of them.

“Maybe,” Dragos said.

There was no time to say more, since Pa had reached us and was looking inquiringly at Dragos. The firelight cast flickering shadows over everyone. I hoped that was enough to prevent Pa from recognizing Dragos. “This is Lord Golescu,” I told Pa. “He's just arrived with an urgent message for Princess Daciana from Prince Vasile.”

As Pa and Dragos exchanged greetings, I plotted my next move. While Pa escorted us to the Great Hall, I slipped my invisibility cap out of my pocket and passed it to Dragos. He pocketed it without missing a beat.

Inside, Daciana was still dancing, so Pa introduced Lacrimora to Lord Golescu. I made sure to stay between Pa and Dragos in case Pa recognized him and tried to attack him. Pa had never taken up wearing a sword like other noblemen, but there was a knife in his belt.

“Is that from a zmeu?” Lacrimora asked suddenly, staring at Dragos's cloak clasp.

By St. Hildegard! I had been so busy watching Pa to see if he recognized Dragos, I hadn't paid any attention to Lacrimora.

“Lord Dragos?” she asked incredulously.

Before Dragos could either acknowledge or deny his identity, Pa's gaze sharpened in recognition. He thrust me behind him, drew his knife, and said to Dragos, “Your highness. What brings you to my home?”

“I am not here for any nefarious purpose,” Dragos said calmly.

“Pa!” I elbowed my way out from Pa's grip. “I invited him here for the dance.”

“Reveka! When did you even see him?”

“I visited the Underworld a couple of days ago.”

“Why would you even go there? How long has this been going on?”

I could spin my father lies to reassure him or I could tell him the truth of what I had been doing for the last two years and what I eventually planned to do with my life. I had hoped to put this conversation off for a few more years until I was eighteen, but it was time to tell my father the truth.

“I've been visiting the Underworld for the last two years. Thonos needs its Queen, and I am the Queen of Thonos. I will return to the Underworld for good to marry Dragos when I am eighteen.”

Pa was speechless. I took one look at his face and glanced away.

However, Lacrimora was nowhere near speechless. “You stupid girl!” she hissed. “You have no idea what you're doing. Even if you have no care for your life or for your soul, think about your father and what it would do to him to lose you.”

“I won't be dead,” I said. “I will only be living somewhere else, which would have happened in the ordinary course of things, if I get married or join a convent.”

“All the lies you've told, Reveka! You've been talking about how you want to join a convent for the last year when you plan on marrying a demon!”

The convent story was mostly to prevent Lacrimora from trying to arrange a betrothal for me with the thuggish son of a neighboring landowner. However, it was also to lay the groundwork to explain where I had disappeared to when I moved back to Thonos in a few years time.

“All the lies I told? What about all the lies you and your sisters told about where you went every night? And all the lies you told about the men you kidnapped and the people you poisoned?”

“ _He_ made us do that!” Lacrimora pointed at Dragos. “And you are planning on marrying him!”

“Don't blame the poisonings on Dragos! You brewed up that concoction and poured it down their throats yourself. How many people died in their sleep before I got the antidote in Thonos?”

“Enough!” Princess Daciana said. I looked up to see that the dancing had stopped and everyone was staring at us. “Princess Lacrimora, control yourself. Princesses do not engage in shouting matches in public.”

Lacrimora raised her hand like she was about to strike Daciana. I waved my hand and put Lacrimora to sleep. I also put my father and all the villagers to sleep for good measure.

Daciana raised her eyebrow and looked at all the sleeping bodies in the hall. The only ones left awake were Daciana, Dragos, and myself. “You and I have much to talk about,” she said. “Is this the zmeu who cursed the princesses?”

“Yes. May I introduce my future husband, Dragos, King of Thonos? And this is Daciana, Princess Consort of Sylvania.”

Later, after we had explained everything to Daciana, I walked Dragos to my herbary, where the new entrance to the Underworld was located. My herbary wasn't as big or as well-stocked as Brother Cosmin's herbary at Castle Sylvian, but it was all mine.

“That was an eventful evening,” Dragos said.

“Yeah, I think it might have put me off dances permanently,” I said. “Or at least for a little while. I'm going to put off waking everyone until morning. I need some peace and quiet for the rest of the night.”

“Will you be all right tomorrow?” Dragos asked.

“Yes, I'll be fine. No doubt Pa and Lacrimora will pick up the argument right where they left off. There will be some tumultuous times ahead. But I feel relieved that everything is out in the open. They're going to spend the next three years trying to change my mind, but I'll spend the next few years preparing them for my departure.”

Dragos pulled up the trapdoor in the herbary, revealing the staircase spiraling down into the Underworld. “Good night, Reveka. I wish you patience and eloquence for tomorrow.”

“I'll try to visit Thonos in the next few days. If I haven't come by the fourth day, that means they locked me in my room.”

“I'll come by and let you out if that's the case.”


End file.
